UN representative issues “catastrophic toll” warning as Myanmar crisis worsens

• A special envoy for the UN has denounced a military airstrike in northern Kachin state that may have resulted in 80 deaths.
• More than 13.2 million people in Myanmar do not have enough to eat.
• Moreover, 1.3 million are displaced, according to Noeleen Heyzer.

Noeleen Heyzer, a special envoy for the UN, has denounced a military airstrike in northern Kachin state that may have resulted in 80 deaths while warning that a human rights and humanitarian crises in the military-run nation is taking “a terrible toll on the people.”

More than 13.2 million people in Myanmar do not have enough to eat, 1.3 million are displaced, and the military continues to bomb targets randomly, burn down homes and buildings, and kill civilians, according to Heyzer, who spoke at the UN General Assembly’s human rights committee on Tuesday.

Speaking at the UN in New York for the first time since visiting Myanmar in August and meeting Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military government, Heyzer said resistance to military rule was still present in the nation.

A new political reality has emerged in Myanmar, she said, with the population demanding reform and refusing to put up with military rule any longer.

Heyzer claimed that she had asked the leader of Myanmar to stop aerial bombardments and the burning of civilian facilities, among other things, during their meeting.

She also demanded that the general guarantee the well-being of the nation’s imprisoned former leader Aung San Suu Kyi and let the return of more than a million Rohingya refugees who had fled to Bangladesh. She also urged for the release of all juvenile and political prisoners.

Many people in the international community, especially ASEAN members who are also from Myanmar, have expressed their displeasure with the military’s stance in defying appeals to put an end to the bloodshed.

The ASEAN chair, now held by Cambodia, mentioned the recent bombing of Myanmar’s largest jail and the airstrike on a celebration in Kachin state’s Hpakant township on Sunday night, which is believed to have resulted in up to 80 fatalities, in a statement on Wednesday.

The chair of the group said, “We are extremely grieved by the mounting losses and the enormous suffering that ordinary people in Myanmar have undergone,” and added that the violence was undermining efforts to put into effect a peace “consensus” reached between ASEAN and Myanmar’s army last year.

As a result, the statement urged “utmost caution and an immediate end to violence” and urged all sides to explore communication.

The problem will be discussed at a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers scheduled for Thursday.

In an open letter, 457 civil society organizations in Myanmar have urged ASEAN officials to abandon the peace agreement they reached with the nation’s military rulers in favor of collaborating with civilian authorities and the shadow National Unity Government (NUG).

Members of the parliament elected in November 2020, prior to the military takeover in February 2001, as well as representatives from the nation’s many ethnic groups, including those opposed to the military, are included in the NUG.

The Myanmar military’s airstrike on the Kachin meeting on Sunday constituted “crimes against humanity,” according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, and should be reported to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

According to reports, between 300 and 500 people were present at the event honoring the formation of the Kachin Independence Organization when military jets from Myanmar dropped four bombs on the crowd. In addition to artists, shop owners, and several more citizens, those killed included Kachin military commanders and troops.

According to Manny Maung of HRW, “the UN Security Council absolutely needs to step up.”

Maung urged the international organization to adopt a resolution that imposes an arms embargo and stated that the atrocities should “at the absolute least” be reported to the ICC since it was “clear that war crimes are occurring.”

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